Editor’s Note: This article has been translated into Spanish by El Eco Copy Editor Danessi Valiente. You can find the Spanish version here.
Following recent sexual abuse allegations against civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, communities across the country are reconsidering who they honor within their schools. Institutions must do their due diligence before naming schools after any individual and should instead look to landmarks or movements that carry lasting meaning for the communities they serve.
Growing up in Oxnard, a city full of fields and agricultural workers, schools often made Chavez a topic of discussion because he lived in Oxnard over the course of his life. Based on what we learned in school, we always thought Chavez was a voice for the voiceless and for Mexican-Americans like us.
Chavez grew up in a family of migrant farmworkers and was also one himself, according to the California State Portal. Eventually, he led advocacy for farm workers by organizing strikes and boycotts to improve working conditions nationwide. His experiences eventually led him to cofound the United Farm Workers union, which cemented him as a historic Latino figure.
Jose Ramirez, an Oxnard resident who comes from a family of farmworkers, said he remembers learning about Chavez in his history classes and participating in class projects about him.
“People really, I guess you could say, idolized [Chavez],” Ramirez said. “When I first started hearing about him, I thought he was, like, a great person, like, he did so much for the community.”
Recent allegations say otherwise. A five-year investigation by The New York Times revealed that Chavez had allegedly raped and sexually abused multiple women and minors who were part of his movement, including two girls as young as 12 and 13.
“My opinion on Cesar Chavez has changed since the recent allegations. I believe that, often, vulnerable people are silenced by people who are influential,” said Kimberli Oregel, a former student in the Oxnard School District.
Ramirez said his thoughts on Chavez originally changed during his time in high school after learning about Chavez’s stance on immigrants.
“Now, I feel like I hate him even more because what he did was definitely not right,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said Chavez was a Mexican-American who did not like immigrants coming to the United States to work. He said that Chavez often used racial slurs when talking about Mexican immigrants, which made him question whether his beliefs aligned with Chavez’s.
“Why do I even like this guy? Why would I respect this guy?” Ramirez said. “He’s definitely not someone I would want to be respecting or someone that I would idolize.”
After the investigation was released, Dolores Huerta, activist and co-founder of United Farm Workers, revealed she had been sexually abused by Chavez.
“I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped,” Huerta said in a statement published on Medium.
A central figure like Chavez should not have monuments and schools named after them, especially in schools. Although he fought for people and was the face of the movement, multiple others, including women like Huerta, were hurt and overshadowed by him.
“The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people,” Huerta said. “We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.”
In response to the allegations, people are starting to take action in California. In Ventura County, the Board of Supervisors decided to change Cesar Chavez Day to Farmworkers Day to represent farmworkers across generations.
Different educational institutions across the country are also in the process of renaming their schools and departments named after Chavez. According to The Arizona Republic, following the Chavez allegations, Cesar Chavez High School located in Laveen, Arizona has placed a temporary name for the school while they discuss procedures for the name change.
“We must be clear that no legacy, no matter how impactful, outweighs the dignity and safety of individuals. At the same time, we must continue to uplift and fight for the rights of farm workers, whose struggle remains as urgent as ever. The movement was built by many, and its mission endures,” said Cesar Morales, Ventura County’s superintendent of schools, in a statement released by the Ventura County Office of Education.
The Oxnard School District’s Board of Trustees held a meeting on March 25, in which they decided to proceed with changing the name of Cesar Chavez School Academy of Literacy, Communication Arts and Technology, after informationabout Chavez’s past was released.
“We will change the name of the school and we will do it right,” said Brian Melanephy, board president of the Oxnard School District Board.
This is not the first time we have seen this happen at a school in the Oxnard School District. A similar situation occurred six years ago at a school just miles from Cesar Chavez School Academy of Literacy, Communication Arts and Technology,.
Dr. Manuel Lopez Academy of Arts and Sciences,was previously named Richard B. Haydock Academy of Arts and Sciences after Oxnard’s first mayor. According to an article by the Ventura County Star, the school’s name was changed after discoveries of Haydock’s racist policies while serving as Oxnard’s mayor.
The study “Strictly in the Capacity of Servant”: The Interconnection Between Residential and School Segregation in Oxnard, California, 1934–1954″ found that Haydock Grammar School the first school named after Haydock in Oxnard was originally a school where individuals who were of Mexican descent were placed, and white children were transferred out to segregate them.
Oregel was one of the students that helped push for the name change of Richard B. Haydock Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“I felt that the former Haydock middle school needed a name change because Richard B. Haydock’s actions throughout his life did not reflect the Oxnard community,” said Oregel in an email interview. “He oppressed the latinx community along with other minorities. When I attended the now Dr. Manuel Lopez middle school, most of my classmates had a latinx background. I did not feel that our school should reflect the name of a man who would not appreciate the people attending it.”
Ramirez said he and his sister were former students at Richard B. Haydock. He said he did not know about the school’s history, but when he found out he was surprised.
“I think it was a great idea to change the name. Sometimes these schools get named, like, based off of a person and most of the time we don’t really know the history of the person unless we look into it,” Ramirez said.
As former students from schools in Oxnard, we believe that schools should be transparent about the history and past of the individual’s reputation that the school’s named is affiliated with.
Schools should not be named after people, given that reputations or unethical behavior could be exposed years after the damage is done. If an existing school is named after someone controversial, administrators owe it to students to be transparent about an individual’s actions and impact.
“Naming schools after people is difficult because no one is perfect, nevertheless I believe that naming schools after the right people is also motivating to the community,” said Oregel in an email interview.
Ramirez said he acknowledges Chavez’s work in helping farmworkers but believes we should not be idolizing him.
“I feel like the schools, especially here in Oxnard, should still teach about the history that happened with the United Farm Workers, but they shouldn’t really be idolizing Cesar Chavez,” Ramirez said.
